Young people call for UK Government to commitment to funding the Global Fund

Restless Development youth campaigners have installed a striking “Fund the Fight” vending machine in Westminster to demand that the UK recommit to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The vending machine, stocked with lifesaving tools like mosquito nets, TB tests, and HIV medicines, is intentionally marked “out of order” to remind the UK Government that anything less than its previous £1 billion contribution would itself be out of order and could cost thousands, even millions, of lives. It’s a vivid symbol of how, without UK leadership and investment, these essentials risk being out of reach for millions worldwide.

New polling by More in Common for Restless Development shows 80% of young Britons (16–24) think it is important for the UK to invest in global health, even when there are challenges at home. Seven in ten believe that helping improve health abroad is part of the UK’s responsibility as a global leader, and 85% personally care about the UK supporting efforts to tackle diseases like HIV, TB and malaria.

“The Global Fund continues to play a vital role in safeguarding the health and futures of young people across the globe. Yet without full replenishment, those hard-won gains are at serious risk. Young people in the UK are calling for action. Let’s listen to youth people and keep our commitments to the life saving Global Fund.

Now that 16- and 17-year-olds can vote - we have a clear mandate to listen. The new Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has a clear opportunity to show she’s listening to young voters by protecting the UK’s leadership in global health and recommitting to the Global Fund.

The Global Fund has already saved 50 million lives, let’s keep that progress alive. As young campaigners demonstrated today, failing to keep our past commitments to the Fund, would put millions lives at risk and be ‘Out of Order’.

— Alex Kent, Co-CEO, Restless Development